1. You may identify the stasis in the play but it isn’t necessarily at the beginning of the play. Where is it and who does it involve?
- This play takes place throughout the 1990's to 2006 in New York, though some parts of the play occur in California as well. Main characters include DHH (David Henry Hwang), Marcus "Gee" (Marcus G. Dahlman), and HYH (Henry Hwuang, David's father) along with some other, smaller characters. It is about a story of the 1990 whitewashing scandal when a white actor was chosen to play the lead role in Miss Saigon which is supposed to be played by a person of Asian descent. DHH, after protesting this event, makes the same mistake two years later when he also mistakenly casts a white person for his play that was meant to emphasize the 1990 event. In an attempt to cover his mistake up he helps the white actor, Marcus, hide his true identity behind an Asian one and ends up regretting his decision when he realizes that Marcus is just a yellowface that he created and now has to correct because of government involvement.
2. Ball points out that the intrusion sometimes occurs late in the dramatic action. What is the intrusion that breaks the stasis in Yellow Face and how is it broken?
- DHH casting Marcus, mistakenly, as an Asian American to star in David's new play "Face Value" is the intrusion of this play. Once this is done, the mistake snowballs into many new frustrations for DHH along with governmental involvement against Asian Americans including Marcus.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor that is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place? Hint: what is the heart of the play? How does the title figure in this?
- This is the day that David protested about Miss Saigon and ultimately trapped himself and now has to figure out how to correct it. Because of the events that take place in the play (Marcus being a celebrity yellowface), it goes along with the title which hints at the main subject of the entire play: racial identity.
4. State the dramatic question that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
- The main question is whether or not DHH will get himself out of this situation that he put himself in, in other words, how will he save his own image in the Asian American community?
5. Use Hwang’s “character” to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, ie. The dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what these particular characters wants. The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles facing each of the lawyers.
- In the very beginning of the play, DHH is protesting the casting of a white actor, Jonathon Pryce, as the lead role in Miss Saigon. He wants the Asian American community to be better understood and represented and also end the act of yellowface which is the act of wrongly casting roles to people not of Asian descent (me v society). When Marcus is introduced, DHH begins having issues because he soon finds out that he himself has wrongly cast a character just like the producer of Miss Saigon. After he has someone under him fire Marcus, many troubles arise because Marcus only grows popular from that (me v another individual). Lastly, throughout the play DHH has many internal conflicts that he must solve. At the end of the play, the audience is informed that Marcus is only a character that DHH created to fight his internal battles of race and identity through (me v myself).
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moment.
- The most theatrical moment throughout this play is when DHH reveals that Marcus is a fictional character that he created, and why he created the character. Marcus symbolizes the internal conflict DHH has regarding his race and identity, as well as how he wants to present himself to society. This is the more crucial part of the play because it directly states the entire purpose, though the idea is present throughout the play.
1. You may identify the stasis in the play but it isn’t necessarily at the beginning of the play. Where is it and who does it involve?
- This play takes place throughout the 1990's to 2006 in New York, though some parts of the play occur in California as well. Main characters include DHH (David Henry Hwang), Marcus "Gee" (Marcus G. Dahlman), and HYH (Henry Hwuang, David's father) along with some other, smaller characters. It is about a story of the 1990 whitewashing scandal when a white actor was chosen to play the lead role in Miss Saigon which is supposed to be played by a person of Asian descent. DHH, after protesting this event, makes the same mistake two years later when he also mistakenly casts a white person for his play that was meant to emphasize the 1990 event. In an attempt to cover his mistake up he helps the white actor, Marcus, hide his true identity behind an Asian one and ends up regretting his decision when he realizes that Marcus is just a yellowface that he created and now has to correct because of government involvement.
2. Ball points out that the intrusion sometimes occurs late in the dramatic action. What is the intrusion that breaks the stasis in Yellow Face and how is it broken?
- DHH casting Marcus, mistakenly, as an Asian American to star in David's new play "Face Value" is the intrusion of this play. Once this is done, the mistake snowballs into many new frustrations for DHH along with governmental involvement against Asian Americans including Marcus.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor that is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place? Hint: what is the heart of the play? How does the title figure in this?
- This is the day that David protested about Miss Saigon and ultimately trapped himself and now has to figure out how to correct it. Because of the events that take place in the play (Marcus being a celebrity yellowface), it goes along with the title which hints at the main subject of the entire play: racial identity.
4. State the dramatic question that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
- The main question is whether or not DHH will get himself out of this situation that he put himself in, in other words, how will he save his own image in the Asian American community?
5. Use Hwang’s “character” to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, ie. The dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what these particular characters wants. The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles facing each of the lawyers.
- In the very beginning of the play, DHH is protesting the casting of a white actor, Jonathon Pryce, as the lead role in Miss Saigon. He wants the Asian American community to be better understood and represented and also end the act of yellowface which is the act of wrongly casting roles to people not of Asian descent (me v society). When Marcus is introduced, DHH begins having issues because he soon finds out that he himself has wrongly cast a character just like the producer of Miss Saigon. After he has someone under him fire Marcus, many troubles arise because Marcus only grows popular from that (me v another individual). Lastly, throughout the play DHH has many internal conflicts that he must solve. At the end of the play, the audience is informed that Marcus is only a character that DHH created to fight his internal battles of race and identity through (me v myself).
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moment.
- The most theatrical moment throughout this play is when DHH reveals that Marcus is a fictional character that he created, and why he created the character. Marcus symbolizes the internal conflict DHH has regarding his race and identity, as well as how he wants to present himself to society. This is the more crucial part of the play because it directly states the entire purpose, though the idea is present throughout the play.